Breaking Fate
by littlefirebird
Summary: New data has been released that links the HiME lineages of Old Earth to the Otome of modern-day Earl. What will this information reveal about the hidden past and seemingly unbreakable fate of the HiMEs?


Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue. Poor college student ain't got no money, y'know?

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_After the war came the promised release of technology and historical information that Garderobe and countless generations of Otomes had safeguarded. Even with the peace treaty, the small group that ventured to the depths of Fumi's tomb was an odd one. Former enemies walked side-by-side with an android leading the way through the library._

"_Miyu-san certainly knows her way around here, doesn't she?"_

"_It is only natural for me to know the schematics when I oversaw the construction of this establishment after Fumi-san's death."_

_The only sound heard through the stunned silence that followed was the soft clicking of her boot heels against the metallic floor as she approached a console surrounded by several large screens. _

"_I'm afraid that I'm currently the only one able to access the data. That should be resolved once the hardware is updated to current standards. Please allow me to act as your in-between in the meantime."_

"_O-of course…"_

"_Now then," she turned around, rapidly clicking a few keys before going completely still. 'What are your search parameters?'_

_Did her voice just…change slightly? Almost uncertainly, the Headmistress ticked off a list of relevant words; the leader of Aswald added a few more once she was certain the raven-haired Column had finished._

'_Acknowledged. Accessing Shinso database in 3…2…_

…_database accessed. Searching for records containing keywords "Aswald" "Child" "GEM" "HiME" "Schwartz""Searrs"…_

…_4,368,549 records returned.'_

"_Narrow it down to just "Child" and "HiME". Search for written records if you can."_

'…_174 records returned for keywords "Child" and "HiME". Earliest written record appears cerca 200AD in the Old Earth Calendar(OEC). Transcript appears in both written and data formats.'_

"_Pull the transcript up in data format, please. If you could, give us a list of these…"Childs" and their respective "HiMEs"."_

'_Acknowledged. In order from first dated appearance: Childs Kagutsuchi and Gakutenou with HiMEs 'Mai' and 'Midori' cerca 402BC OEC; Childs Julia and Duran with HiMEs 'Nao' and 'Natsuki' cerca 153BC OEC; Childs Kiyohime and Vlas with HiMEs 'Shizuru' and 'Yukariko' cerca 249AD OEC; Childs Gennai and Yatagarasu with HiMEs…'_

_Murmurs cut out the android's artificially soft voice. Why were the names ones that were familiar to them all? Not even that, but al Aswad's monstrous beast was named Gakutenou as well, wasn't it?_

'…_with HiME 'Alyssa' cerca 2005AD OEC. This concludes the full list of known HiMEs and Childs. HiMEs dating before 1700AD had their names expunged and replaced to keep records updated. Records last updated by John Smith of Searrs Corp., in 2005AD OEC.'_

_Another familiar name. Just how much of this repeated—and for how long? It was unreal!_

_A peripheral screen flickered to life, drawing the formerly confused looks of all present towards it. On one half of the screen resided a scanned page of the ancient text, while the translation occupied the other half._

"_Shizuru, doesn't that script look like the one used in Cardair?"_

"…_Just barely. I could probably pick out one or two words, but that would be it."_

'_It was written in Latin, a language commonly used in the early days of Old Earth. The Cardairn script is loosely based off of several remnants of Latin's offshoot languages, most of which lasted until Earl was established.'_

"_Huh…"_

_Their attention turned to the translated portion and, more specifically, to the bolded introduction._

**_This record has been verified and augmented with memory data taken from the GEMs created by Childs dating from 249AD and earlier. Visuals may be retrieved, with permission, from the current GEM users providing they are still in commission._**

"_Well…shall we?"_

"_We already have. Shut up and go to the next page already."_

_Smack! "Ow!"_

"_Quiet, Zhang! And thanks for ruining the mood."_

"_No proble-"_

"_Ara, it seems that Natsuki needs more patience when dealing with her peers…"_

"_This is the greatest historical finding since the War of the Twelve Kings and all you fools can do is bicker? Jeez, just move on already!"_

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**Author's Note:** Yes, it's short. Yes, it's a prologue. Please don't let that stop you from letting me know what you think so far, because I do have more on the way. =)


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